Yarn Everywhere!

I have to apologize for disappearing - my last semester of college was my busiest ever and I barely had time to knit, never mind blog about it. Unfortunately, I don’t see my schedule letting up any time soon, so this is the official notice that, like a friend of mine, I am going on hiatus. I’m starting a full time job on Monday, and will be going to school halftime at night (for a MS in computer science) for the next three years or so, plus probably moving out of my parents’ house and into an apartment this summer. Consequently, I have vanishingly little leisure time, and prefer to spend it knitting rather than writing about knitting. I’ll be back if things slow down or I want to brag about something I’m extra proud of, but for now I’m going to stop feeling guilty about never updating.

Now that all that old stuff is out of the way, there is room for new stuff! Over winter break I decided to start these two new lovely things.

What is that, you ask? It is a piece of Roam knit with gorgeous Glory Days (dk-weight BFL) hand-dyed at Briar Rose Fibers. The picture doesn’t really do the color justice - it’s listed on the website as dark pine green and light olive with a touch of teal, and that’s about how it looks in the skein, but when knit up it blends into a wonderful greeny-gold that is exactly what I was hoping it would be.

I’m really hoping to get some wear out of this sweater this winter, so I’ve been working on it pretty steadily. I’m through the back and one of the sides, and a little more than halfway through the other side. The pattern is great, but I have some concerns about arm circumference. A few people on Ravelry mentioned the arms were too small, and for the size I’m knitting (36″), the given measurement is just about exactly my actual arm circumference. Maybe a little smaller. So I think I’ll add an inch or so there. I’m really excited, I think this is going to be a perfect sweater for everyday wear. Zipper = no gaping buttons, it’ll go with everything, be warm and light and easy.

The other project is going a lot more slowly, since it’s more about the process and less about oh-god-must-wear-now.

It’s the Sampler Stole from A Gathering of Lace. I saw the pattern a while ago and didn’t love it, but when I saw it again a few weeks ago I did. Strange how that works.

I’m using Yarn Palace Gentle in Dark Ruby. Very thin, very soft, very rich dark red.

Here’s a dryblocking shot of the tiny bit I’ve done, to give an idea of the first .25 repeats of the first section:

So that’s where I am now. Trying to resist the siren call of hats, mittens, and scarves. I have enough of those, at least until the sweater is done.

Okay, here are the last few things I’ve finished, finally. After this I can finally move on to talking about a couple exciting new things!

First, my vacation scarf! I usually start knitting scarves when I’m in a yarn store and don’t have access to any of my knitting things. When I went to Florida, I had to leave the sock I was working on behind because I was terrified that airport security would take my needles - they were my favorite set! So I was in Florida without knitting, and made the mistake of checking out the local knitting store. Ended up buying four skeins of Rowan Tapestry (only ended up using two for scarf) and a new set of needles. Managed to knit the entire scarf before I went home!

Pattern: That two-stripe scarf everyone’s been doing with Noro.

Yarn: Rowan Tapestry, 1 skein Antique (173) and 1 skein Moorland (175)

Needles: Lantern Moon US8 single-points

I loved the colors in the skein, but when I started knitting I was afraid I had made a terrible mistake. They’ve really grown on me, though, and now I love it again.

Next, a sweater that took way longer than it should have:

Pattern: Threepenny Pullover from Interweave Knits. Smallest size, 36″.

Yarn: Cascade 220 in Dark Plum, 5.5 skeins

Needles: Knit Picks Options circs in US7 and US6 for edgings.

This is, unfortunately, a case of a great sweater ruined by not-so-great finishing. See how the bottom is a little… wavy? That’s because when I sewed on the bottom edging, I didn’t do a very good job. I’m not sure how I could have done it any better, though. Plus this was a race-to-the-finish project. I wanted to get it done to give to my mother before coming back to school for the semester, and I got it done around 1AM the night before I left. There wasn’t time to redo anything.

Other than the bottom edging, I’m pretty happy with it. I was afraid it would look kind of cheap in plain wool (the yarn called for in the pattern is a beautiful, glossy wool/cashmere blend), but I think it looks fine, and it fits great. Overall a success.

Next up: Christmas knits! I’ll say now that this is not a complete entry. I knit a pair of plain brown ribbed gauntlets for Mitch from baby alpaca, and I didn’t have a change to photograph them before they were whisked off to northern California.

My mother got a wrapped skein of sock yarn for Christmas. It has since become this part-sock:

That’s the beginning of a Wavy Sock (pattern from The Knitter’s Book of Yarn) in Mountain Colors Bearfoot. It is lovely, and a little less orange in real life.

My boyfriend also got a fake Christmas present: two different half-knit mittens. I had some issues with sizing and pattern selection (it’s hard to knit things for people that aren’t around to try them on!). We ended up going with these:

Pattern: Jack-in-the-Box Mittens from Knitting New Mittens and Gloves, largest size (men’s)

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted in Oregano, 1.2ish skeins

Needles: US6 Knitpicks nickel-plated DPN’s for cuff, Susan Bates US7 DNP’s for the rest.

Only one major modification: to knit the ribbed cuff that goes inside the outer mitten shell (at the end of the inner part of the mitten) I picked up stitches around the inside of the outer shell instead of casting those stitches on separately and then stitching them down later. It created that ugly crease you see in the picture above, but it also makes the outer shell lie nicely flat when pulled back:

I think they came out pretty nice. I was always sort of scornful of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride for no good reason, but now I’m a fan.

Gratuitous button shot!

As mentioned in last week’s entries, I have quite a few FO’s to share. I won’t try to pack them into one entry, I’m going to go one or two at a time in chronological order.

First, an election-related knit that wasn’t finished until mid-December, mostly because I originally intended to knit it from handspun and the handspun didn’t quite work out (much too bulky, resulting in not enough yardage of a too-thick yarn. I need more practice with the one ply –> three ply transition. Or I just need to sample more. Whatever.). I did end up knitting it from handspun, just different handspun.

Pattern: Habitat by Jared Flood, larger size. Awesome!

Yarn: Handspun fingering-weight BFL, used double.

Needles: Susan Bates US7 DPN’s for edge, Susan Bates US8 16″ circ for the rest.

I bet my boyfriend an unspecificed prize (to be named by the loser) that Florida would go Republican in the 2008 presidential election. I should have known not to bet against my own interests and figured he would know his home state better than I - I lost. And, after a bit of thinking, asked him if a handknit hat would be acceptable. He said it certainly would, and thus: the hat. I’m very jealous of it. It’s squishy and soft, but also firm. I will probably knit one for myself at some point. All my hats are sort of wimpy, and this hat is anything but wimpy.

Just for good measure, I’ll throw in a pair of socks I finished a while ago.

Pattern: Inspired by Mimknits’s Simple Trekking Socks. Copied her pattern idea, but used it over the entire sock and adjusted the length. Worked over 68 sts.

Yarn: Trekking XXL in color 146

Needles: Grafton Fibers Darn Pretty Needles, US1

This is a basic, comfortable pair of socks. I love the color, they fit beautifully, they were easy to knit… Nothing to be particularly excited about, but a great addition to my sock wardrobe. One of the reasons they fit so well is that I finally realized that 64sts on US1 needles makes a sock that is a little too small for me. No getting around it. 64 sts on size 1.5 needles is great, as is 68 sts on size 1. It’s good to know what fits me.

I was going to make an “out with the old” post in preparation for an “in the the new” post later, but for various reasons my “olds” aren’t quite ready to be shown yet. A stole needs to be blocked, a sweater needs a tiny bit more edging (yes, those are the two projects I’ve been working on on-and-off since the beginning of last summer, and they are FINALLY ALMOST DONE), numerous Christmas gifts have to be given or photographed… what I’m saying is, I have nothing, but will soon have (if I count correctly) five FO’s and one new pair of socks in progress to post.

And then there are two brand-new very exciting projects! I was hoping the yarn for one would arrive today, but no. The post office is probably still getting over Christmas, I shouldn’t be surprised if they’re a little slow. Oh well. I’m flying off for a week in Florida tomorrow and was hoping to have something exciting to knit on the plane, but I’ll have to look forward to coming home to something exciting instead.

I’ve finished a few small projects recently, which is good because I have things to show you, but bad because there are a few things I’ve been working on since the beginning of last summer that i want to finish! And they’re both pretty close. I’m just hitting finals week, so I think they’ll have to wait until winter break.

On to the fanciness!

Socks! It’s amazing how quickly they go on size 2 needles.

Yarn: Green Mountain Spinnery Sock Art - Meadow
Pattern: Chain Melody by Nicole Hindes
Needles: Granton Fibers Darn Pretty Needles US2

Pattern and yarn both wonderful! This yarn is 50% mohair, which I think it great for socks yarns. The pattern is great, though as usual for socks I didn’t follow it very closely. I usually get lazy and stop looking at the pattern after I have the stitch pattern down. That means my heels and toes are always Janet’s Standard Heel and Toe instead of whatever’s in the pattern. Janet’s Standard Heel and Toe are slightly modified versions of the Sensational Knitted Socks Standard Flap Heel and Toe. I figure, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Since I finished a pair of socks, of I had to start another, which is almost half done. Really happy with how these are coming out.

These are inspired by Mim’s Simple Trekking Socks. I used her stitch pattern and made it sock-wide, and used my own heel, toe, and stitch count.

There have been things going on that are not about socks. For one thing, I cut most of my hair off and was shocked and pleased to discover that, for the first time in my life, I look cute in hats!

So of course I had to knit a new one.

Yarn: Handspun by me from Real Vermonter Roving from A Piece of Vermont. Sadly, I believe this roving is no longer being sold. Details on the yarn here
Pattern: Improvised. Cast on 88, knit k2p2 ribbing for a while, knit stockinette for a while, decrease every other row for a while, decrease every row for a while.
Needles: US8

This yarn mystifies me. Check this out:

How did I manage to spin yarn that is partially self-striping? All I did was spin the first half of the roving, spin the second half, and then ply them together. I can understand getting lucky and getting the colors to align just right to make stripes, but in only part of the yarn? How does that work? See how it starts out a random jumble of colors and turns into striping? Very strange.

And last but not least, just because:

Yarn: More of my handspun, from Abby’s Tiramisu batts. Details here.
Pattern: Modified Accidental Girly Mitts. I knit them in the round and added an afterthought thumb.
Needles: Grafton Fibers Darn Pretty Needles US3 (I love these needles - bought them in sizes 1 and 3 when they become available from the manufacturers online).

Soft! Pretty! I love fingerless mittens!

Now it’s time for Christmas knitting, I’ve-been-working-on-this-for-months-and-it-needs-to-be-done knitting, and I-lost-a-bet knitting.

Over the past weekish I suddenly found myself with a little more time to knit, so I have things! Things to blog about! Also, I had a birthday, so of course I started new things with birthday yarn. But first, the old.

I started knitting Fiddlehead Mittens last spring and got through the shell and lining of one and an inch of the shell of the second before summer came and i didn’t want to knit mittens anymore. A month or so ago, I suddenly sat down and spent an afternoon finishing the first shell. Then it sat and sat until yesterday, when I suddenly sat down and knit the whole lining.

I work like that a lot - I knit something until I get to a stopping point, then ignore it for weeks until I want to knit it again, then do it constantly until I get to another stopping point and ignore it again.

It feels great to have these mittens done. Finally my hands will be warm when I’m outside! Finally they are done! They fit perfectly. You can tell I’m not great at colorwork yet, but they look decent.

Pattern: Fiddlehead Mittens by Adrian Bizilia

Yarn: The shell was knit with Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (see Ravelry for colors), the lining with Rowan Kidsilk Haze single-stranded.

Needles: Knit Picks US4 circular (magic loop) for the lining, Susan Bates US4 DPN’s for the lining.

I also knit socks!

Pattern: Zigzag Socks from Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Sock Book

Yarn: Gedifra Happy Strumpf Mouliné. I got this yarn from a destash sale, and haven’t ever been able to find out anything about it. It’s pretty basic sock yarn, similar in weight to Trekking XXL, with a lot of superwash wool and a little nylon.

Needles: Knit Picks US1.5

They’re nice. I like them and they fit well. Not a big deal.

As soon as I finished those, I had to start some new socks with the beautiful Green Mountain Spinnery sock yarn I got for my birthday. This pattern is Chain Melody. I like it a lot, it’s very interesting without being too much for the variegated yarn. (Don’t judge the picture, it looks better on the foot but at this stage I can’t get it on my foot.)

The yarn was nice in the skein - pretty colors, soft, in all ways pleasant. But the fabric I’m getting (on size 2 needles) is AMAZING. Very dense and squishy and sturdy and soft, perfect for socks (which I guess is no surprise, it being sock yarn). I think it’s that this is 50% mohair, which I’ve never had in a sock yarn before. I like it a lot. More people should do that. Much nicer than nylon.

My other new birthday yarn project was started on a bit of a whim. I was picking out birthday yarn (because my parents have no confidence in their ability to choose it themselves) and I was thiiiis close to getting nice blue bulky wool for an Urban Aran cardigan. But then I bought Misti Alpaca Chunky in a dark blue-green for Versatility. It can be so many things! So exciting!

So that’s the deal for now.

I promised myself I would post once I finished something, and finished something I have! So I am taking time out of the work-work, school-work, and general freaking out about graduation and THE REST OF MY LIFE to bring you this:

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath from Knitty

Yarn: My handspun, from the 50% merino/25% alpaca/25% bombyx silk and angora blend roving I got from Belfast Minimills. Ridiculously soft.

Needles: Knit Picks Nickel-Plated DPN’s, set of four

I made these for my mother’s birthday. I’m making my father Dashing (the for-boys version of Fetching - there’s a boy kind and a girl kind! So cute! I couldn’t resist) for his birthday, which is four days after my mother’s. Those have quite a ways to go. I wanted to use handspun for them as well, but my initial spinning plan didn’t work out, and now it’s too late. Alas.

This pattern was ridiculously simple and quick, and it fits great. I recommend it.

I just updated my Ravelry account for the first time in forever. Now it is all up to date. Ahhhh.

That’s what I am. I blame it half on being much more busy than usual, and half on not much to report - which I then blame on the busyness. (This is how busy I am - I have basically stopped reading knitting blogs.) I’m still chipping away at some old projects, and I kept telling myself that I would blog as soon as I finished something. I’m not too close to finishing anything, though, and the guilt was growing and growing. So, I’m here. I’m knitting. I’m not dead. But I have nothing to show you right now. Someday…